T20 World Cup 2012

[War]

Seems like almost every team is picking T20 squads now that have highly questionable selections so far. S Africa, India, Pakistan teams clearly could be better.

I'm concerned Australia will also go down that road as well.

England are safe now, given that Pietersen saga is over and he will be picked and i reckon if their XI and squad is like this, they have an excellent chance of defending their title.

Kieswetter
Hales
Pietersen
Bopara
Morgan
Buttler/Bairstow
Patel
Bresnan
Broad
Swann
Finn

Buttler/Bairstow
Dernbach
Briggs/Borthwick
Woakes

 

[Aalay]

I do not agree with the version that Rahul Sharma has been kicked out due to the drugs issue. A BCCI statement had mentioned that the case regd Sharma would be made public. If they find any issues with it, then they would take some action. I 'm telling you, its more to do with the superstition than anything else.

As I said in my post that there is no other reason then that drug issue to kick him out. He got chance in one ODI in Sri Lanka and he gave decent performance. So I don't really know why suddenly Piyush Chawla came in for Rahul Sharma.

Seems like almost every team is picking T20 squads now that have highly questionable selections so far. S Africa, India, Pakistan teams clearly could be better.

Would you mind writing your choice of Indian squad. I just want see who would you pick as a non-Indian fan.

 

[Fenil]

Munaf Patel is the other guy who must have been close. He's hopeless in the field, but I think he's more likely to succeed against international batsmen than Balaji is.

Munaf is not the same old struggling fielder. Jonty Rhodes has worked a lot on his fielding and it was showing in the 2009 (probably 2010) edition of IPL where Munaf's fielding was quite good (brilliant for his standards).

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Well why are you so worried then, maybe we'll win it with the help of Chawla on the bench.

Why not have a player who can deliver goods when you have one for the team than waste money on a useless player?

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Rayudu in for Tiwary anyone?

 

[Prithvi]

No Yusuf again please.... He is the biggest "once in a blue moon" guy but his blue moon day never seems to come at all. Yusuf Pathan should come nowhere near the Indian international side forever. He is a perfect backyard cricketer who luckily got his chance in Indian cricket due to his brother's connections. He was a flop this recent IPL. For Yusuf, I would have a 100 Rohit Sharma's who are hopelessly out of form.

Who will be #7 for us, if you keep out Yusuf Pathan?
Who is the batsman who is capable of hitting huge sixes with the raw power, keeping the technique away? Saurabh Tiwary is one of such batsmen, but he doesn't have even an inch of technique. Dhoni is a hard hitter, but the way he is playing since few years, he is more of technical batsman than a batsman powered with muscle strength.

Why not Praveen Kumar? Has he gone completely out of selectors radar?

Yes, he was pretty economical in the IPL as well. He isn't even in the India A.

Rahane anyone?

Rahane is of no use when we have Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Manoj Tiwary and Rohit Sharma in the squad.

I think Tiwary has been picked because of concerns over Rohit. If Rohit were in good form, then it probably would have been Yusuf Pathan as a backup plan for Yuvraj. In other words, selectors more confident in Yuvraj than Rohit. I'm with you though, I think Yusuf Pathan is worth the dice roll in T20s. ODIs? No, but T20s I'd rather have a guy like that in my lineup.

Yes, considering the nature of format, Yusuf Pathan is a batsman who definitely needs some highlighting. He is someone who can play single digit balls and score double digit runs.

For spin, I think Ojha is India's best T20 spinner so he is hard done by. I'd have picked him ahead of Chawla.

Munaf Patel is the other guy who must have been close. He's hopeless in the field, but I think he's more likely to succeed against international batsmen than Balaji is.

Inclusion of Chawla has some reason behind. People say superstition blah blah, but in reality, its combination of Piyush Chawla with Sreesanth, which is superstition. Might be Chawla is considered ahead inorder to add few options of scoring runs.

Munaf Patel is hopeless guy, he has a bad attitude, which gives him edge to keep him away. He is a worst fielder, with 0% off bowling discipline.

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Rayudu in for Tiwary anyone?

I say Yusuf in place of Tiwary.

I have confidence in Rohit Sharma in T20s, he has a terrific T20 record, he can win matches off his own.

 

[Fenil]

Yusuf Pathan is way too inconsistent. I agree with what you mentioned about Rohit. Well Rahane can be place of Gambhir, opening i.e., while Gauti can push down to 3.


How about:

Sehwag
Rahane
Gambhir
Rohit
Virat (He can quite a few biggies unlike Rohit who needs time to settle down)
Dhoni
Raina

 

[Prithvi]

Yusuf Pathan is way too inconsistent. I agree with what you mentioned about Rohit. Well Rahane can be place of Gambhir, opening i.e., while Gauti can push down to 3.


How about:

Sehwag
Rahane
Gambhir
Rohit
Virat (He can quite a few biggies unlike Rohit who needs time to settle down)
Dhoni
Raina

You cannot expect Virat to slog at #5. Added to that, Yuvraj WILL play all the games, even if he doesn't perform. You could try out something like this:

Rahane
Gauti
Virat Kohli
Sehwag
Yuvi
Dhoni

so that #4 is taken by someone who is reliable. I'm sure if Sehwag is sent at #4, he will play more responsibly. If you feel Sehwags start is something what India shouldn't miss out, Gautam Gambhir should be sent in at 4, with Sehwag opening.

Also, I feel we are lagging behind a dumbslogger, who can do justice to the #7. Irfan Pathan cannot play like how a pure #7 bats, might be we needed to have Uthappa (if you do not want Yusuf Pathan), so that Dhoni could get a role as pure slogger, who comes in at 7. It also completes my strategy of sending Sehwag at #4, so that we could have someone who can start aggressively (Uthappa and Gauti), maintain scoring rate in form of Kohli and Sehwag and finish off the things aggressively (in form of Dhoni and Raina).

This leaves no room for Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary, with Rahane in the dug out.

If I were selector, my line up would be:

Robin Uthappa
Gautam Gambhir
Virat Kohli
Virender Sehwag
Yuvraj Singh
MS Dhoni
Suresh Raina
Irfan Pathan
Harbhajan Singh
Ravi Ashwin
Zaheer Khan

 

[icyman]

We are playing one batsman too many out here. With Yuvraj in the side, he is going to be a sureshot even if he doesn't perform in all the games. Seeing what has happened with Rohit ,one can be sure that Yuvraj will now get the maximum games even if he is unable to hold a bat.

Selecting both Rohit and Tiwary seems to be a mistake. I'd have kept Tiwary out of this squad- not too convinced with the fact that he is a T20 player. Rohit too should have made way for a reserve keeper,in case MSD gets injured or so. An Ambati Rayudu, aproven performer at this level could have made the difference.

The reason for preferring Rayudu over a Patel/Karthik or a Ojhan is simple. Patel and Ojha stand out more like top-order openers which they are quite unlikely to get with our Top 3 in the team. KKD has not really done much in the opportunities that he has gotten to showcase,be it the IPL or the Indian team. Rayudu ,on the other hand can be used as a floater and if need be can also be drafted in as a specialist batsman. So, the selection is a bit flawed,really.

 

[Aalay]

We all have different opinion and selectors won't select the squad again so it's better to discuss about the current squad that has been chosen.

I liked Epic's idea of going with 5 bowlers and Irfan at 7. We went with 5 bowlers in Sri Lanka and it looked ok but when Irfan is not in form, it will be really tough to balance the team. I would now put Tiwary ahead of Rohit Sharma just because Rohit is going through a rough form. I liked Tiwary in 2 matches that he played on Sri Lanka tour, not as strong as in form Rohit but at least he is getting runs and his leg spin is always a plus to the team.

Sehwag
Gambhir
Kohli
Raina
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Pathan
Ashwin
Ojha/Harbhajan
Dinda/Balaji
Zaheer

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Rayudu in for Tiwary anyone?

What wrong has Tiwary done to not even get a place in the squad?

 

[War]

Would you mind writing your choice of Indian squad. I just want see who would you pick as a non-Indian fan.

Based on what i've seen you Indian fans here on PC complain, the cricinfo fans and my Asian friends in England say - it seems that Rohit Sharma, Chawla are the one's people don't believe should be their.

While Praveen Kumar, Ojha, Rahul Sharma, Rahane, Yusuf Pathan would be preferred choices in some other positions.

 

[icyman]

We all have different opinion and selectors won't select the squad again so it's better to discuss about the current squad that has been chosen.

I liked Epic's idea of going with 5 bowlers and Irfan at 7. We went with 5 bowlers in Sri Lanka and it looked ok but when Irfan is not in form, it will be really tough to balance the team. I would now put Tiwary ahead of Rohit Sharma just because Rohit is going through a rough form. I liked Tiwary in 2 matches that he played on Sri Lanka tour, not as strong as in form Rohit but at least he is getting runs and his leg spin is always a plus to the team.

Sehwag
Gambhir
Kohli
Raina
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Pathan
Ashwin
Ojha/Harbhajan
Dinda/Balaji
Zaheer

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What wrong has Tiwary done to not even get a place in the squad?

The above XI itself answers the question. If he wont get a look into the side at all, why bother making him tour Sri Lanka again. Unless he is a professional photographer who would be interested in clicking the scenic Lankan countryside

 

[Epic]

Uhm, ever heard of injuries?

 

[vickramhx]

Yuvi's return will be a strength for our Indian cricket squad in WC T20.

 

[sami ullah khan]

It will be interesting to see if Pakistan can once again make it to the semis. The team has struggled in limited overs format over the last two years or so. For Pakistan to have any chance, Umar Gul has to be consistent throughout. Batting has to fire especially the openers and late middle order. Afridi has to find the form he had in the England T20 cup.
All in all a lot needs to happen if Pakistan are to have a fighting chance.

 

[War]

Australia Twenty20 Squad | Pakistan v Australia T20I Series, 2012 | Cricket Squads | ESPN Cricinfo

. Making no changes to this squad for the T20 will be utter madness.

 

[icyman]

Somehow, the name Cameron White, Australia T20 and captain go hand in hand for me. Don't know about the others, but certainly Bailey's elevation to the post hasn't caught the fancy of all.On paper the side looks weak, especially for the sub-continental conditions.

My dark horses for this tournament are the West Indies and Bangladesh. Both are loaded with players who can smack the ball a fair bit and they may find themselves atleast in the semi-finals by my calculations.